Alumni Relations: Best Practices for Building Lasting Connections

Students spend a relatively short time at higher education institutions, making strong alumni relationships a powerful tool. Alumni can be word-of-mouth advocates, mentors, and lifelong donors. A strong alumni engagement strategy benefits current students, alumni, and institutions.

The Importance of Alumni Engagement

Alumni engagement involves building lasting relationships between a higher education institution and its alumni. It's more than just newsletters or annual reunions; it encompasses personalized outreach and digital innovation. There are a few reasons why alumni engagement is important:

Student Retention and Belonging: According to the Salesforce Connected Student Report, only a small percentage of students feel a sense of belonging at their college or university. Connecting alumni with current students can foster belonging and improve student retention. Facilitating these connections between alumni and current students can help them feel like they belong and improve student retention at institutions.
Lifelong Learning and Career Support: Many students feel their coursework is relevant for only a short time after graduation. Extending career services to alumni facilitates lifelong learning and increases the chances of them returning for additional learning or upskilling. Almost half of students surveyed in the Connected Student Report feel their coursework is relevant for only five years after graduation. When career services are extended to alumni, it will facilitate lifelong learning and will increase the chances of them returning to higher education for additional learning and upskilling.
Financial Health: Funding from engaged alumni is crucial for the financial health of colleges and universities. Alumni who feel valued by their alma mater are more likely to offer financial support. Alumni who still feel engaged and valued by their alma mater are more likely to lend financial support. According to a recent survey by CASE, total contributions to colleges and universities in the United States increased significantly in 2022. Institutions with strong alumni engagement programs see higher donor participation rates than those without structured engagement strategies.
Brand Advocacy: Alumni are natural advocates for their institution. Nurturing alumni loyalty strengthens the brand's reputation.
Enhanced Career Opportunities for Students: Engaged alumni bring mentorship opportunities and improved job placement rates to current students.

Key Strategies and Best Practices

Here are some proven strategies and best practices for successful alumni engagement:

1. Personalization is Key

People expect personalized engagement. Tailor communications to alumni interests and demographics. Alumni engagement programs should proactively solicit feedback from alumni on a regular basis, ideally doing a survey at least once a year. These inputs will help to measure the effectiveness of existing approaches so these programs incrementally improve. Creating a dynamic process with alumni engagement ensures it continuously evolves and improves over time. The alumni body is diverse, and institutions should segment groups so messages are targeted. Is a recent graduate interested in the same news as someone who left many years earlier? Who is more likely to donate? All content should feel relevant and personalized, which creates challenges if alumni are all treated the same.

Audience Segmentation: As alumni communities grow, they become more diverse. Segment your audience to understand their needs and motivations. Audience segmentation is key. Just as importantly, segmentation deepens your understanding of your audience. It reveals alumni needs, challenges, and the avenues in which they are motivated to contribute.
Personalized Opportunities: Deliver targeted opportunities that match each alumni’s interests and career stage. Generic job boards or opportunity lists can easily be overlooked. One of the top alumni engagement best practices is to deliver personalized, targeted opportunities that match each alumni’s interests and career stage.

2. Showcase Alumni Success Stories

Prioritize alumni success stories over generic news updates. Focus on stories that demonstrate your community’s impact by connecting it to a member’s win. Look for opportunities to show how alumni relationships supported or amplified that success-whether through entrepreneurial partnerships, mentorship, or meaningful connections formed at alumni events. Alumni globally are doing exciting things with their degrees. Consider starting an “alumni of the week” series where an exciting alumni project is highlighted. This could be a novel they’ve written recently or a small business they run. Showcasing the work of alumni is a great way to make them feel appreciated, and it will also give current students tangible goals to aspire to.

Read also: Legacy of Fordham University

3. Offer Career Support and Professional Development

Provide career advice and job-seeking support, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Many alumni would appreciate professional development support from their college or university long after they graduate. Universities invest resources to nurture alumni relations that bring these results.

Career-Focused Programs: Career-focused programs can be a win-win-win for students, departments, and alumni. Alumni often respond to opportunities to help students through courses or mentoring.
Ongoing Career Services: Offer ongoing career services to alumni. MHCI+D offers ongoing career services to alumni.
Networking Events: Host networking events to connect students with alumni. Communication Leadership hosts “First Friday” networking events, which bring students to visit a local company or organization and meet with alumni.
Mentorship Programs: Facilitate mentorship opportunities between alumni and students. MCHI+D alumni offer students critiques and feedback through a capstone program and career fairs.

4. Leverage Digital Platforms and Technology

Use digital platforms to stay connected and reach a wider audience. Staying on top of trends and best practices in alumni relations ensures that your team can keep alumni inspired, engaged, and active in your institution’s community.

Branded Alumni Platform: Use a branded alumni platform that reflects your institution’s identity. Branding plays a crucial role in alumni engagement. Alumni feel a strong connection to their alma mater, and your brand is central to their sense of pride and belonging. One of the key alumni engagement best practices is to use a branded alumni platform that reflects your institution’s identity.
Social Media Engagement: Use social media to promote the work and achievements of alumni. The Ohio State University has an Instagram page dedicated to its alumni.
Text Messaging: Utilize text messaging for relevant information and updates. Texting is an excellent tool to improve the quality of engagement with alumni. College and university students will spend a relatively short time at their institutions and long years after their graduation being your alumni. Share alumni news and university updates, and encourage current students to engage with alumni. When they sign up, send a confirmation text asking for details such as name, year of graduation (predicted), what kind of messages they would like to receive, and preferred mode of communication.
Multimedia Content: Use video and other multimedia to catch alumni’s attention. In a digital age, it’s crucial to use different mediums like video to catch your alumni’s attention. Get creative when thinking about alumni engagement ideas that use video. You can do things like send video invitations to reunions or other events, personalize video messages for birthdays or other milestones, and encourage alumni to create and share their own videos. Multimedia can also help engage alumni with different learning styles. photos, images and gifs embedded within SMS messaging.

5. Create a Sense of Community

Foster a strong sense of community among alumni. In uncertain times, people tend to look to their various communities for comfort and support. Educational institutions are in the unique position of being able to build and foster this type of community for their alumni.

Online Alumni Mixer: Host an online alumni mixer.
Alumni Networks and Affinity Groups: Establish alumni networks or affinity groups that cater to specific demographics or shared interests. One way to foster a welcoming and equitable alumni engagement program is to establish alumni networks or affinity groups that cater to specific demographics or shared interests. These groups can provide a community for alumni of different backgrounds, races, religions, sexual orientations, and genders to connect with, network with, and support each other.
Community Champions: Identify and empower community champions to help recruit new members and sustain engagement. Community champions are powerful advocates who help recruit new members, strengthen retention, and sustain engagement. Community managers don’t have to go it alone! That might include moderators to guide conversation, strategic advisors to share expertise, or group leaders to convene members around shared interests. If you’re designing a formal community champion program, consider how you’ll recognize and reward them.

6. Offer Value and Incentives

Ensure alumni clearly perceive the value of staying connected. For alumni engagement to succeed, members must clearly perceive the value of staying connected. Especially if you charge a membership fee, the benefits of alumni engagement must outweigh any costs. Beyond benefits, operational excellence is a critical part of your community’s value.

Incentives and Perks: Offer incentives and perks back at their alma mater. Your old students could always do with some nice perks back at their alma mater.

7. Show Appreciation

Express gratitude for alumni contributions. Thank you notes: 74% of donors appreciate personal “thank you” for their contributions.

Read also: Baylor's Notable Alumni

8. Host a Variety of Events

When planning event schedules, include a mix of in-person and online events to ensure more alumni are included. When planning event schedules for the year, institutions should include a mix of in-person and online events. Offering a combination of events will make sure more alumni are included. Design events to accommodate a diverse audience (e.g., donors Vs. networking people, locals Vs. international students, affluent Vs.

9. Transparency in Funding

When alumni invest in institutions, they want to see where their money is going. Furthermore, institutions can get current students involved by interviewing them on how the new building, equipment, or program has enhanced their experience. When alumni choose to invest in institutions, they want to see what their money is going toward. Furthermore, institutions can get current students involved by interviewing them on how the new building, equipment, or program has enhanced their experience.

10. Global Engagement

Plan for your alumni universe internationally. Engage in communication tools that provide a direct line between alumni and the university. One of the things that we’re very cognizant of is how can we make everything we do… transparent but also available to alumni around the globe. You could utilize this global network to guide students on life after university. When your ex-students see value in engaging with the institution after they graduate, they will respond and keep in touch- even when they are spread across the globe.

11. Building Relationships Early

The relationship between alumni and institutions begins well before graduation. Institutions interact with students at multiple points across the student lifecycle. This means that institutions have the perfect framework in place to develop a cohesive and engaging experience for students beginning early in recruitment and lasting until after students transition into alumni. Build lifelong relationships by making current students feel valued, and make it clear the journey doesn’t end as soon as they graduate.

12. Data-Driven Approach

Take a data-driven approach to alumni engagement. The best alumni engagement plans aren’t determined by staff alone. approaches based on data-driven insights. Measuring engagement in an online alumni community requires balancing both qualitative and quantitative insights. Ask yourself: What types of engagement matter most? Is it active participation in live feed discussions, attendance at webinars or events, or offline relationships formed through community connections? To learn more about measuring what matters, explore our deep dive on leveraging community analytics.

Read also: Columbia University Legacy

Engagement Scores: Ask your CRO about alumni engagement scores.
Tracking Metrics: Track metrics like event participation, donations, volunteerism, and digital engagement. essential for tracking these metrics. SIS Data and provide comprehensive insights into alumni interactions. programs interest alumni most. are interacting with the institution's content.
Advancement CRM: Institutions can use an advancement CRM, such as Salesforce's Alum 360, to improve alumni engagement. Salesforce's advancement CRM allows institutions to keep track of alumni data on one convenient platform. Having up-to-date data ready to go will help institutions to understand alumni and build stronger connections.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Maintaining an engaged alumni community can be challenging. While alumni communities have the potential to drive strong engagement and long-term loyalty, they also come with common challenges.

Fading Interest: As time passes from a member’s original connection to your organization-whether as a student or employee-it’s natural for interest to fade. The key is meeting alumni where they are.
Diversity and Segmentation: While members share a past connection to your organization, differences in age, role, industry, or geography can make it harder to form natural relationships. Strategic segmentation can help. You can also facilitate meaningful 1:1 connections that lean into your members’ differences.
Lack of Perceived Value: If alumni don’t clearly understand how engagement benefits them, participation will decline. This is especially true for early-career alumni who may not yet see themselves as donors or mentors.

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